Rockingham Landfill Gas Abatement Facility

Rockingham Landfill Gas Abatement Facility is a landfill gas electricity generation project located at the Millar Road Landfill Facility in Baldivis, approximately 47 km south of Perth in Western Australia. It was registered in August 2013. While the exact project area size is undeclared on the registry, the project encompasses the operational footprint of the active municipal landfill site.

Landfill gas projects operating under the electricity generation methodology involve collecting methane gas, which is naturally produced as organic waste decomposes in a landfill, and combusting it in a generator system to produce electricity. This process provides a dual climate benefit: it safely destroys methane (a potent greenhouse gas) from legacy and non-legacy waste, and it displaces electricity that would otherwise be generated by fossil fuels on the local grid.

The Swan Coastal Plain region surrounding Rockingham is primarily utilized for urban development, industrial areas, and waste management, alongside adjacent coastal reserves. The local environment experiences a Mediterranean climate characterized by moderate, winter-dominant rainfall. The soils in the immediate area are typically freely draining coastal sands, notably Safety Bay Sands and Tamala Limestone, overlying deeper regional groundwater aquifers.

This project has an interesting operational history, having transitioned through multiple methodology determinations and facility operators. Originally operating under a 2012 legacy waste method, it eventually shifted to the 2021 electricity generation methodology. Management of the gas capture facility was previously handled by AGL Energy before transitioning to the current proponent, LMS Energy Pty Ltd, in 2022. Additionally, local environmental planning reports note that due to incoming waste-to-energy facilities in the southern metropolitan area diverting general waste, the Millar Road Landfill's operational lifespan is anticipated to be extended to 2055, providing a long-term resource for this gas capture project.